Sunday, October 9, 2011

Baby shower gifts

First off I love baby showers! This super cute party celebrating a tiny life thats not yet even here yet. A new mom especially needs to be showered with the cutest/usefull things. Me being a mom twice I know this very well and with each kid I was SURPRISED with a shower and the most beautiful gifts. I have been so blessed with amazing friends/coworkers that I want to "pay it forward" and give good gifts. Of course parts of it are so related to how much I know the mom. I try to be considerate and think of what they would need the most and if time permits I try to be as crafty as possible, try being a key word haha. I will also attempt to guide you through good gift giving through the eyes of a mom and crafty girl.

Key things to remember for a good gift

1. Yes it is absolutely the thought that counts not the dollars spent.

2. Gift registries are great to go off of so that the parents dont end up with four baby bath tubs. They only need one lol!

3. Giant stuffed animals...NOT so great. why? Cute yes, but where am I going to put a 3ft monkey that collects dust for the first year of my childs life? So put the monkey down...just put it down.

4. Diapers are always ALWAYS a safe great gift EVEN if your mom/dad friend is planning on cloth diapering the first month its usually disposables or when they are on the go. Cause folks babies make the gift that keeps on giving...poop!!

5. YouTube will teach you the ways of creating unique gifts.

6. Gifts of babysitting, cooking food, and or cleaning house are the best FREE gifts a mom could get! My sisters give me this gift and I can't tell you how much I love them for it. So even if you are broke and want to give a good gift a card with a note promising one or all of these items and you will be genius!

All pictures seen on this post were MADE from by JennKnowsIt.com

The diaper cake above was made for baby Isabella, I worked with her mom and she was one of my first friends to have a baby and I had always wanted to make a diaper cake. BTW this "cake" was made like 3 years ago and was one of my first attempts at a baby shower cake so not bad for a first try. But I also had help from Trish and Sara on this baby.

Super cute baby sleeping cupcakes, tutorial found at http://justjennrecipes.com/ she has some awesome recipes so go check her site out!

This beautiful basket was taught to me by the beautiful Trishy, my friend and former coworker. She can work some magic because she used to work at a gift-basket-making place lol. Tons of baby items rolled into little roses and tucked into nooks and crannies were tons of things for Baby London. Items included onesies, mittens, pants, wash clothes, a bib, hats, baby lotion, and many others. It really was like putting together a bouquet of flowers!

And finally the "Welcome Wagon". This one was all my idea. I had already gifted a diaper cake and a beautiful "Flower basket" so I couldn't give something like that again. I thought way in advanced for this gift because Baby Samantha's parents are good friends of my husband and I. We both know the mommy and daddy from back in high school!! So I looked around and saw these "mini" little tikes red wagon and a light went off. A welcome wagon to welcome a little baby how perfect :) So we ordered the wagon from Amazon and bought all the items to go into it. This wagon was made very similar to the way the flower basket was made but less tissue paper. I did a small bouquet of "flowers" made from baby wash clothes. Rolled onesies into a cupcake roll, and randomly placed all the other items including two blankets, bath towels, more wash clothes, mittens, a hat, pants, and baby lotion. The sign in front I made with my vinyl cutter, hehe an excuse to make vinyl awesome! Plus when Baby Samantha gets older and wants to pull her baby dolls around her parents can remove the vinyl if they wish. So you get the size a toddler could very well pull this wagon..I know because my son pulled it lol!

I've somehow earned a reputation for good baby gifts, in fact some people have told me they want to specifically invite me to their baby showers hahaha while I'm flattered I really want everyone to know that a good gift is really the thought. I really wanted to give Baby London and Samantha very special gifts because their mommies were amazing to me when I was first pregnant with Ayden. I had to wait a year and two years to be able to show them how much I care. I think they loved it and thats all that matters. Have questions on a baby gift just ask me!

9 comments:

I would really like instructions on how you made the flowers and cupcakes. My bestest friend in the world, who just got married, is pregnant with her first child and I want to do something special. I know her mom is going to make an amazing diaper cake and I would love to make something super special for her and our little blueberry (he doesn't have a name yet).